Conventional systems for controlling appliances and devices, such as garage door openers, security gates, home alarms, lighting, computers, etc., use individual remote controls to operate a respective appliance and/or device. With this conventional system, it is difficult to control multiple devices or appliances, much less consolidate operation of the appliances and devices into a single, controllable system. For example, garage door opener mechanisms open and close a garage door in response to a radio frequency (RF) control signal. The control signal is typically generated and transmitted from a remote control that is sold with the garage door opener. The control signal has a preset carrier frequency and control code such that the garage door opener mechanism is responsive only to the remote control issuing the associated control signal. A problem associated with this type of system is that the door opener must receive a specific predetermined control signal in order to be operated. That is, each appliance and device must receive a specific predetermined control signal. Therefore, a user wishing to control multiple appliances and/or devices is required to have multiple remote controls.
Communication systems currently exist which enable multiple appliances and devices to communicate with a central or single remote device. One such system is Homelink™, owned by Johnson Controls, Inc., in which a trainable transceiver is able to “learn” characteristics of received control signals such that the trainable transceiver may subsequently generate and transmit a signal having the learned characteristics to a remotely controlled device or appliance. For example, one such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,854,593, hereby incorporated by reference. Another such system is disclosed in European Patent No. 0 935 226 B1, also hereby incorporated by reference.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an electrical circuit of a trainable transceiver in block and schematic form. Trainable transceiver 43 includes a conventional switch interface circuit 49 connected to one terminal of each of the push-button switches 44, 46, and 47. In addition to microcontroller 57, transceiver circuit 55 includes an RF circuit 58 coupled to microcontroller 57 and to an antenna 59. Each of switches 44, 46, and 47 may each correspond to a different device or appliance to be controlled such as different garage doors, electrically operated access gates, house lighting controls or the like, each of which may have their own unique operating RF frequency, modulation scheme, and/or security code. Thus, switches 44, 45, and 47 correspond to a different RF channel for trainable transceiver 43.
Systems, such as those described above, may be incorporated as a feature into a vehicle to provide users with easy access to wireless devices and appliances. One such embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 2, which shows an interior rearview mirror assembly. Interior rearview mirror 10 has a reflective surface 11 encased in a frame or bezel 12. User inputs 18a correspond, for example, to switches 44, 46, and 47 of FIG. 1 and likewise operate a different device or appliance to be controlled. Appearing on each of the inputs 18a is a logo, icon, indicia or graphics, such as a vehicle logo, and may have other appearances as desired. For example, the Homelink™ icon appears on three of the four user inputs 18a, each of which may be backlit with one or more illumination sources or LEDs. Selection of a user input 18a operates to backlight the input, indicating selection of the corresponding user input 18a. Alternatively, as illustrated, each user input 18a may not be backlit, but instead illuminates LED 22 when selected.
FIG. 3 shows a touch-sensitive interior rearview mirror assembly in accordance with the prior art. Reflective element 410′ includes a surface capacitive touch screen or touch screen system incorporated at the mirror glass, and is able to determine the location of a touch at the front surface 410b′ of the reflective element 410′ by sensing current flow at discrete locations. When the mirror and touch screen system are activated, the touch screen may determine the location of a touch at the front surface of the reflective element 410′. For example, when a finger 472′ touches the front surface 410b′ of the reflective element 410′, the finger conducts or draws current away from the glass. The sensed current is detected by a controller to determine the location of the finger 472′ on the reflective element 410′. The location detected may also correspond to a character or number of a keypad, for example, which in turn generates an appropriate signal to appropriate circuitry in the mirror system.